Nathan MacKinnon, on par with the best in business?

[Murzu]

Nathan MacKinnon has been on another level for quite some time now as these stats take into account almost two full calendar years. He clearly leads in three of the most important categories for forwards during that timeline.

People often put him in the tier just below McDavid, but should he be viewed equal to him already?

Click to read more...

 

[Mr Kot]

I think, like Kucherov, he can hang around with McDavid. I think the reason why McDavid is considered above them is due to the longevity of his dominance, right from the get go he was among the best.

As of today though? Yeah, I would think he is there.

 

[dirtydanglez]

mackinnon's performance has been better but if were talking talent i'd take mcdavid.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

White Jesus. Intense like Michael Jordan.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Have them switch teams and I think McDavid would be lapping him. Edmonton has never had a Makar on the backend.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

That’s a lot of words to say he hasn’t won an Art Ross.

 

[benfranklin]

2 years in a row winning the Hart and Lindsay would go a long way to bridge the gap between McDavid. Three years and a Cup in there and give him the crown until McDavid takes it back.

 

[Goose]

Doesn’t pretty much everyone agree it’s McDavid 1A and Kuch/MacKinnon/Drai 1B?

Is there anyone who really disagrees with this beyond maybe quibbling the order of the three 1Bs?

 

[benfranklin]

Have them switch teams and I think McDavid would be lapping him. Edmonton has never had a Makar on the backend.

But but but I was told Bouchard is on par because of analytics and Makar has been awful this season.

22-23 to 24-25

Player	GP	TOI	CF%	FF%	SF%	GF%	xGF%	SCF%	HDCF%	HDGF%	PDO	Off. Zone Faceoff %
Cale Makar	156	3956.65	56.01	55.27	55	58.64	55.07	58.55	54.93	54.66	1.017	62.78
Evan Bouchard	183	3864.12	63.56	62.69	62.37	64.32	64.73	65.14	66.8	66.28	1.01	65.78

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

But but but I was told Bouchard is on par because of analytics and Makar has been awful this season.

22-23 to 24-25

Player	GP	TOI	CF%	FF%	SF%	GF%	xGF%	SCF%	HDCF%	HDGF%	PDO	Off. Zone Faceoff %
Cale Makar	156	3956.65	56.01	55.27	55	58.64	55.07	58.55	54.93	54.66	1.017	62.78
Evan Bouchard	183	3864.12	63.56	62.69	62.37	64.32	64.73	65.14	66.8	66.28	1.01	65.78

Bouchard is garbage compared to Makar.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

2 years in a row winning the Hart and Lindsay would go a long way to bridge the gap between McDavid. Three years and a Cup in there and give him the crown until McDavid takes it back.

Nah he’s gonna have win an Art Ross to be on McDavids level

 

[tarheelhockey]

At his best, he’s top tier. It’s more a question of consistency across his career if you’re going to compare him to a McDavid tier player.

 

[benfranklin]

Doesn’t pretty much everyone agree it’s McDavid 1A and Kuch/MacKinnon/Drai 1B?

Is there anyone who really disagrees with this beyond maybe quibbling the order of the three 1Bs?

The whole point of this OP is saying that MacKinnon's production has been above 1A's for nearly 2 years now. How long does production need to be on par or better for us to agree there is no more 1A, but two 1B's, and then some 1C's or even 2's or however you want to throw around numbers/letters lol.

 

[Romang67]

McDavid scored 62 points in 37 playoff games in that time frame. If anything, I'd argue that McDavid is farther ahead of #2 after those runs than he was before.

 

[benfranklin]

Nah he’s gonna have win an Art Ross to be on McDavids level

Harts/Lindsays >>>>> Art Ross's expecially if he's a few points off.

A Hart/Conn Smythe season would do it for me.

 

[Murzu]

Have them switch teams and I think McDavid would be lapping him. Edmonton has never had a Makar on the backend.

It's not like McDavid is playing with bad talent. I do agree that Avs surround MacKinnon better, but Oilers have a couple of quality pieces to support McDavid.

Doesn’t pretty much everyone agree it’s McDavid 1A and Kuch/MacKinnon/Drai 1B?

Is there anyone who really disagrees with this beyond maybe quibbling the order of the three 1Bs?

Yeah.. but the thread was about which tier MacKinnon really belongs to. Should he be in A with McDavid?

 

[Murzu]

McDavid scored 62 points in 37 playoff games in that time frame. If anything, I'd argue that McDavid is farther ahead of #2 after those runs than he was before.

McDavid has really upped his playoff game, but MacKinnon has been an insane playoff performer his whole career also.

 

[benfranklin]

McDavid scored 62 points in 37 playoff games in that time frame. If anything, I'd argue that McDavid is farther ahead of #2 after those runs than he was before.

How many Cups? Ill take any team that can win the Cup in 20 games than the team that lost in 25.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Since MacGinnon has stepped up his regularly season scoring he's been extremely average in the playoffs.

He's going all out for meaningless regular season scoring. While McDavid is saving energy to bring it for the playoffs.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

How many Cups? Ill take any team that can win the Cup in 20 games than the team that lost in 25.

You realize winning a Cup is a team accomplishment right?

 

[Romang67]

McDavid has really upped his playoff game, but MacKinnon has been an insane playoff performer his whole career also.

McDavid has played 15 more playoff games than MacKinnon in the last 3 playoffs, and has scored 50 points more.

How many Cups? Ill take any team that can win the Cup in 20 games than the team that lost in 25.

And the 2022 Avalanche were indeed a better team than the 2024 Oilers. That wasn't the topic.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Have them switch teams and I think McDavid would be lapping him. Edmonton has never had a Makar on the backend.

Draisaitl.

 

[Fledgemyhedge]

How many Cups? Ill take any team that can win the Cup in 20 games than the team that lost in 25.

Key word team. You said it buddy

 

[authentic]

The whole point of this OP is saying that MacKinnon's production has been above 1A's for nearly 2 years now. How long does production need to be on par or better for us to agree there is no more 1A, but two 1B's, and then some 1C's or even 2's or however you want to throw around numbers/letters lol.

I was about to say, MacKinnon is not in a tier with Kucherov and Draisaitl. I believe that based on his recent play he is much closer to McDavid. Like really who are we kidding, who watches these players and thinks Kucherov and Draisaitl are as good as MacKinnon?

McDavid is still #1 though. After starting last season injured he put up 2 points per game in the final 60 and then topped 40 points in the playoffs. MacKinnon hasn’t done this yet and he hasn’t reached 150+ points. But leading in points and ES points for 2 years straight firmly puts you in contention for best player, if we couldn’t see that from watching him play already these past few seasons.

Also people who want to dock him for playing with Makar, Draisaitl is glued to McDavid on the powerplay where they do a lot of their damage, furthermore they still play regular shifts together and cheat for offense at ES more than any elite forwards in the game.

 

[Coffey]

He’s in the upper echelon with 97 and 86 without question. I don’t think anyone has said otherwise lol